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The Federal High Court sitting in Abuja has admitted in evidence, an extra-judicial statement the detained leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, made in 2015, shortly after he was arrested by operatives of the Department of State Services, DSS.
The statement was tendered before the court by a DSS operative that appeared as the first prosecution witness in the seven-count treasonable felony charge the Federal Government preferred against Kanu.
The witness, whose identity was shielded, was simply identified as PWAAA. He testified behind a screen.
In his Evidence-in-Chief, the witness told the court that he led the team of security operatives that arrested the defendant on October 14, 2015, in one of the rooms at Golden Tulip Hotel, Lagos International Airport.
Kanu, who was arrested upon his return to the country from the United Kingdom, UK, was said to be in the company of a lady when the operatives struck.
Aside from the statement, the witness, who was led in evidence by FG’s lawyer, Chief Adegboyega Awomolo, SAN, equal tendered video recordings of the interrogations that ensued after Kanu’s arrest.
While the video recordings were played in the open court, following a directive from the prosecution counsel, the witness also read out the statement Kanu made at the DSS.
Kanu’s legal team, led by a former Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Chief Kanu Agabi, SAN, did not raise any objection.
Four suitcases that contained various items that were recovered in the hotel room where Kanu was arrested, were equally produced before the court.
The suitcases contained personal belongings of the defendant, including equipment he allegedly used for his Radio Biafra broadcasts.
Trial Justice James Omotosho admitted the items in evidence and marked them as exhibits in the case.
Meanwhile, in the statement that was read in the open court, Kanu, denied his alleged link to violence in the South East region of the country.
He maintained that his struggle for the emancipation of the South East, South South and parts of Benue and Kogi states, was his fundamental human right and not terrorism as alleged by the government.
The embattled IPOB leader further contended that freedom fighting, which he was involved in, is neither a crime in Nigeria nor in any part of the world, describing it as a basic right.
More so, Kanu, in his statement, decried that he was interrogated by the DSS without the presence of his lawyer, as required by the law.
Confirming that he established Radio Biafra, the IPOB leader insisted that it was duly registered in the UK where he resided.
He further admitted not registering the radio station with the National Broadcasting Commission, NBC, saying he had no need to do so.
